Directors Notes: 193 - Team Having Fun (Patreon)

One of my favorite theater adages - I don't remember which playwright said it. I think it was Bertolt Brecht? - is "The most interesting thing a character can do on stage is tie their shoes."

Of course, it's not that interesting to tie one's shoes. It's mundane. It's visually small. It's something you do while on your way to do something else.

The point to me was never about shoe-tying, though. It's about watching an actor embody their character while doing a common or unrelated action. Whether it's tying their shoes or opening a door or stirring their tea, the physicality of the moment is what's important. As audiences, we respond to words and direct action. But we also respond to body language.

Imagine someone tying their shoes. Are they anxious? Angry? In love? Sleepy? Frustrated? How do you tie your shoes (or stir your tea or open a door) when you are in those moods? More importantly, how does the person you're viewing demonstrate those things to you while performing said action? How do you know someone's mad by the way they just sit there?

All this said, I've always been fascinated with task-based performance. You can do it subtly by writing a scene where a character who's drunk has to try to make a cake. You can also do it more experimentally by having a character lift heavy weights while singing. Trying to perform two strenuous lung activities at once can make for a really engrossing scene if paired thematically to the script.

In this episode "Team Having Fun," I wrote about radio consultants constantly giving feedback to Cecil. None of their critiques are of my opinion (or of any listener opinions we've ever received). I simply wanted to have Cecil the actor play around with improvising a script, play with his pace, and eat while talking. I don't know that we're achieving any profound theatricality in these moments. But eating chips, for instance, while reporting breaking news, is a fun way to subvert standard storytelling. And subversion, even at such a small level, is always enjoyable.

-Jeffrey Cranor
September 3, 2021